Tag Archives: CBA

ESPN reported the New York Mets would tender Ike Davis a contract for 2014, largely because not doing so would cost them a compensatory draft pick.

Davis is making $3.1 million this year, and through the CBA, can’t be offered anything higher than a 20 percent pay cut. Reportedly, the least Davis would make is $2.4 million, which isn’t bad for nine homers and 33 RBI.

The reason GM Sandy Alderson delayed sending Davis to Triple-A Las Vegas was because of the promise of a breakout second half, which, of course, never happened.

Non-tendering a contract would have meant no compensation, so what Alderson is doing is essentially buying an insurance policy, with the worst-case scenario being forced to endure another year of non-production.

In keeping Davis, the Mets would go into spring training of him and Lucas Duda competing for the first base job.

Currently, the Mets are about getting whatever they can, which is what they did in the John Buck-Marlon Byrd deal, their reasoning with Davis, and why, despite the foul taste it gave them, they recalled Frank Francisco.

Despite all accounts but Francisco’s, the Mets believed he dogged it during rehab, he was pitching in the major leagues Sunday.

It was a last ditch effort to showcase him to a contender desperate for bullpen help, even though Francisco would not be eligible for a postseason roster.

Francisco is owed $745-thousand for the remainder of the season, which isn’t much, but better than nothing.

METS MUSINGS: Among the Mets’ call-ups is 35-year-old pitcher Aaron Harang, who might get one or two starts to serve as an audition for a spring-training invite. Harang went 5-11 with a 5.76 ERA in 22 starts with Seattle. Harang will likely pitch Saturday in one of the games of the Mets’ doubleheader with Miami. … David Wright could be with the Mets this week, but he’s not ready to play. … RHP Matt Harvey will receive a second opinion this week from Dr. James Andrews on his elbow, and after which could decide on Tommy John surgery.

Selig wants his legacy to be that he’s the commissioner that got rid performance-enhancing drugs, which sound about right because it was under his watch that the problem mushroom into its current mess.

The early reports are in, and they are saying Jose Reyes is close to a deal with the Miami Marlins. I’m just not buying it … at least not right now.

Reyes could very well “take his talents to South Beach,” but it is just too early in the free-agent process to think this is a done deal, and it has nothing to do with the Mets not getting a chance to submit what is speculated to be an artificial counter.

Rarely do these things get done this early. There are still visits to be made to Milwaukee and Detroit, and possibly Philadelphia should Jimmy Rollins bolt for San Francisco. The Marlins might have given Reyes an offer, but do you really think he’ll bite on the first numbers? Hardly. The Reyes camp will counter, especially if the contract is only three years as has been reported.

Reportedly, the CBA is close to being signed, so that doesn’t appear to be the obstacle I originally thought.

However, there are too many steps remaining in this process – especially if Reyes is in it just for the money – for him to accept the first offer. There’s still a ways to go.

In researching Today in Mets History, I didn’t discover much besides Al Weis’ homer, but odds are there will be nothing more significant than tonight’s response to last night’s 11-1 embarrassment at Wrigley Field.

For the second straight game, a sloppy big inning did them in, but overall, they committed three errors, had their bullpen torched, watched Jon Niese struggle again, didn’t hit, and for good measure, had Jason Bay injure his right calf.

Bay isn’t expected to play tonight, assuming weather allows the game to get it. Maybe not playing will be a good thing for the Mets as it will give them another day to stew over owner Fred Wilpon’s comments. Wilpon, guarded for so long, called out his three best players and termed the Mets a “crappy” team, only with vulgarity.

Manager Terry Collins insisted Wilpon’s comments and the swirling controversy about payroll and who will or will not get traded had no bearing on last night. Perhaps they didn’t, but there’s no way if this continues that it won’t have an accumulative effect.